


The Lesser of Two

by Haleyb333



Series: Devil's Advocate [3]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-22
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2018-08-24 01:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8351530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haleyb333/pseuds/Haleyb333
Summary: This story is part of the Devil's Advocate series! With the arrival of five new trainees at the Institute, the lives of James Herondale and his cousins are about to be changed forever, but before they can get to the other side, they must be tested in ways they never expected or asked for. Their biggest problem, however, is how to get to the other side together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ***This is a story in the Devil's Advocate series***
> 
> Hi all! Sorry again that it's been so long since I've updated anything at all! It's that time of the semester when things are worse than normal because every professor seems to think that their class is priority, so right now things are much more hectic than ever before.
> 
> That being said, the beginning of this story took much longer to write than it should have because I had a lot of problems getting it right. And even then, it's really not completely right. So please bear with me as I try to get this story feeling right to me. You all may not feel as though anything is wrong with it, and we admittedly do have a very long way to go with this story, so strap in!
> 
> All of that being said, if there is absolutely anything that you would like to know about the kids or any questions that you have about the story, please let me know! That might prompt me to write one of the one-shots that I'll be writing throughout the stories about my OCs!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the start of this story!

James tried to hide his smile, dodging George's playful punch as he made his way down the hall and away from the mess that was currently beginning to take over the Institute. They'd spent the past week in Idris, just as they always did after the ball, but that had only given them a day to prepare for the new arrivals. The new training program was set to officially begin in the morning, but all the new trainees were arriving today to settle in and get familiar with the place they would be spending the next few months in. James was making his getaway, but he was still terribly amused that one of the new trainees had actually gotten the better of George for once. The other boy, Evan, had fired back at George from the moment he'd set foot in the Institute in a way that no one had ever been able to do before.

At least now people were actually smiling. Their week in Idris had been full of tension, the impending Clave decision hanging over their entire family. In just under a week, the Clave would hold the meeting in which they would make their final decision on whether or not to change the laws regarding Shadowhunter and Downworlder marriages. For weeks, James had felt like they were all walking on eggshells, but now that they'd gotten back from Idris and the meeting was drawing closer by the second, the tension was so high that James could all but physically feel it. Which was why James felt he had to get away for a moment and find Max. Max had spent the day locked in his room instead of meeting the new arrivals, something that was completely out of character for him. Max might be quiet in general, but he was rarely ever so antisocial, preferring to be around people rather than spending time alone.

James opened the door to Max's room without knocking, knowing that a knock wasn't needed when it came to the two of them. Yet this was the first time James had ever hesitantly entered Max's room, not really knowing what kind of mood Max might be in and silently hoping that he would have the power to help Max through it. Unsurprisingly, Max was curled up on his bed reading, but what was a surprise was that he didn't put his book down as soon as James entered. He usually wanted to talk as soon as James came in. It was incredibly strange to see Max so subdued, and for a few moments, James was caught completely off guard by it. Yet James knew much better than to point it out, sitting down beside Max without saying a word, knowing that Max would speak up on his own time.

Max read several pages before finally putting the book down, but James waited patiently, knowing that the other boy needed his space at the moment. "They won't stop fighting," Max finally said, his voice just as subdued just as his demeanor. "When I went to bed last night they were still up fighting with each other, and when I woke up I heard Dad yelling at Papa again. I don't even know what they were fighting about. They just won't stop." James tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Just a few days ago, he'd overheard his parents talking about the trouble Uncles Magnus and Alec had been having. From what he'd heard, it hadn't sounded like his uncles were having any true trouble, just arguing because of their stress and worries, but their fighting clearly seemed to be taking a tole on Max. "I know they love each other," Max finished, his voice trailing off in the most miserable of ways.

For several long seconds, James had no idea of what to say. But then he quickly realized that Max didn't want him to say anything at all. At least, Max didn't want him to try to say anything regarding his fathers. There was nothing James could actually do to fix the situation, and Max had never been the type to want idle apologies. So James did the only other thing he could think of and began distracting Max as best as possible. "So four out of the five new arrivals are here," he said, trying to shift Max's mind to any topic other than the endless fighting that seemed to be taking over his family. "You already know Serena from the ball, but the other three are quite a handful already. One of them even got Maddie to laugh," James said, pleased by the smile that finally appeared on Max's face, even if it was a faint one. It wasn't often that Max's little sister was actually comfortable with new people of any kind, but today she seemed to be doing really well with adjusting to the idea of five new people living in the Institute in addition to Preston.

"Plus you know Mason," James said, leaving it at that and waiting for Max to laugh. Mason was a very nerdy brown-haired, black-eyed boy who endlessly reminded James of Uncle Simon. His family, the Ashbows, had been family friends for as long as James could remember, a family that Uncle Simon had actually met while he'd been in the Academy. For years, Mason had had an undeniable crush on Sophie who generally tried to avoid him at all costs. James couldn't even begin to figure out how Mason had wriggled his way into the program, but he would never put it past Mason to get close to Sophie in whatever way he could. "Then there's Evan Blackwell and Marlies Highsmith," James continued, internally sighing at the thought of them.

Max shifted toward him, obviously prompting James to explain everything to him since he'd missed out on their first impressions. "They didn't say so, but from their disgusting making out, it's pretty obvious that they're a couple. If I'm completely honest, Marlies reminds me of Preston." James didn't need to finish the thought that Preston was one of the most horribly stuck up Shadowhunter they'd ever met. "She's got black hair and green eyes which coincidentally perfectly compliments Evan's black hair and green eyes," James said, particularly pleased that Max was now laughing in earnest. "But the best thing is that Evan is most definitely able to get the best of George. I don't think I've ever seen any fire back at George as fast as him."

At that, Max chuckled, obviously amused at the thought of someone actually being able to handle George for once. "At least he'll have someone to keep him on his toes now," Max replied, his voice much more relaxed than it had been before. "And at least that'll make this whole thing more exciting," he continued. Just a few weeks earlier, Max had admitted that he hated the idea of the new training program. He felt as though inviting new Shadowhunters into the Institute was like asking for trouble, and at the moment, James had to admit that the less trouble and tension their family encountered, the better.

The only problem was that James realized that his family had been asking for trouble since long before he'd been born. "Want to come with me to meet the last girl?" James asked, slightly nervous at the thought of greeting the last arrival on his own. His dad had asked him to do so, and James knew it was mostly because he was the one who was most likely to be both welcoming and informative when it came to introducing the girl to the Institute. Max shook his head and pointed to his book which was almost exactly what James had expected from him. So James simply gave Max a look that very clearly said that he would be there to talk if need be and left the room to go meet the last arrival.

James tried to push his whirling thoughts away, deciding to wade through his thoughts on the group and his uncles later, making his way out of Max's room practically on autopilot. \James had been terribly glad when his father had asked him to be there when Uncle Magnus constructed the portal to let the last trainee into the Institute. He terribly needed the chance to clear his mind and relax if just for a moment. A lot of people found that they were uncomfortable around Uncle Magnus, but James always found his presence comforting. Uncle Magnus was steady and firm, he was always unchanging and unwavering. Many people thought that because Uncle Magnus was so quirky and flamboyant that he was unpredictable, but James found him terribly predictable. Once you had an understanding of him, it was easy to keep ahead of his next move, and James adored his understanding of how different Uncle Magnus was.

James watched with a smile as Uncle Magnus worked on the portal, his movements swift and deliberate in a way that only decades of practice could bring. Uncle Alec was there to help with the runes, and James couldn't help but analyze how they were acting with one another. The tension between them was very clear, but even so, they made a wonderfully perfect team, Uncle Alec being entirely comfortable with magic, almost as though it was a part of himself as well. Every time James watched his uncles working together in any way, he couldn't help but wish for a love like theirs. A love so comfortable that it would feel like being in his own skin; a love so true that everything about the other person would feel like an extension of himself, no matter what the circumstance of the moment were. Charlie often said that being around so much true love was tiring, but James found it satisfying, as though his parents and aunt and uncles were challenging him to go out and find the things they had found.

James idly realized that if he didn't know them so well that he most likely wouldn't be able to pick up on the fact that they were standing slightly farther away from one another than they normally did. Or the fact that they weren't casually brushing against each other, touching elbows or doing anything possible for the chance to be close to each other, in the way they usually did. They seemed like small things, and James knew that they were small, but it still broke his heart nonetheless, knowing that when it came to his uncles that the smallest of gestures were what really, truly mattered to them. "What are you thinking about?" Uncle Alec asked, his expression telling James that he was deep in thought.

Looking up, James could easily see that Uncle Alec's work on the portal was done, meaning they were close to meeting the new arrival. James tried his best to keep his gaze even and calm, knowing that pointing out the tension between them would be the worst of ideas. "I was just admiring the way you two work together," James replied as Uncle Alec took a seat beside of him, leaving out the other things he'd been thinking of. "You two work together as if you're one person." Uncle Alec simply smiled at that, but Uncle Magnus chuckled. This only caused Uncle Alec to shake his head in the only slightly amused way he often did. Yet even in these small actions of theirs, James could see just how far from relaxed they both were.

As quickly as possible, Uncle Magnus finished the portal, his movements becoming far more complex than anything James could even begin to follow. "I certainly hope we're not becoming one person," Uncle Magnus said as he finished his work, stepping back to wait for the person to come through. "I don't want Alec rubbing off on me," he continued, his tone almost deceptively light. But James could easily hear just how heavy his tone really was. It was very clear both from how his uncles were carrying themselves and how they were speaking that they couldn't seem to shake the effect the Clave's impending decision was having on them. "I dress far better than he ever could." James couldn't help but laugh despite himself. His dad had once told him that Uncle Magnus's best defense was humor, but at the moment, James couldn't truly see the harm in it. If it helped relax his uncle then why should there be anything wrong with it?

But James forgot all of that as soon as the girl finally stepped through the portal. James had never been girl crazy, he'd never really given most girls a second glance, but the girl before him made James want to draw her, something he internally loathed. He immediately longed to capture the way the sun glinted off her hair in a way that made it look like pure gold. Or the way her eyes were such a striking shade of blue they reminded him of the deep blue of the sky on an icy winter day. After several long seconds, James forced himself out of his seat, holding out his hand as he began speaking. "I'm James Herondale; my father asked that I give you a tour and help you get settled in." James became anxious as the girl refused to take his hand, wondering what he could have possibly done wrong.

"I'm Rose Merryweather," she said, still not holding out her hand. James risked a glance over at Uncle Alec, slightly relieved to see that he looked just as confused. The smile on Rose's face made James uneasy, and he had to force himself to keep from groaning when Rose finally spoke up. "If your hand is out for a handshake, that's not exactly going to happen." James's heart all but stopped when Rose clarified. "Handshakes aren't really my thing since I'm blind." James turned terribly fast and shot Uncle Magnus a look when he began laughing. "And yes, I can fight just as well as you," Rose continued, echoing James's next thought. "Probably better." That only caused both Uncle Magnus and Uncle Alec to genuinely start laughing, something that relaxed James more than he would have thought possible.

James wanted to hide his blush, but then he realized that Rose couldn't see it, so he made a face at his uncles before asking Rose to follow him out of the library. He was highly uncomfortable, having no idea of how to act with Rose now, unsure of what to do for his tour, unsure of how easily she could follow him. "I can follow you just like anyone else," Rose said once they were out of the library. For a moment, James began to wonder if she could actually read his mind, her voice echoing his thoughts once again. "And yes, a tour of the Institute will help me," she continued, her voice almost impossibly softer than it had been before, almost as though she had realized that James was genuinely trying to be helpful. "It'll help me get acquainted with the place just as it would anyone else," she explained, motioning for James to lead the way.

At first, James wanted nothing more than to be able to hide himself away in his room, already terribly embarrassed, growing more and more awkward by the second. Not that James didn't realize that he was generally always awkward when it came to trying to be around girls. But then James realized that what he really needed to do was to focus everything he had on simply acting like his normal self, even if his normal self was a bit awkward at times. So James forced himself to relax and stop worrying about what a fool he'd made of himself, at least for the time being. "This is my favorite room in the whole Institute," James said when they finally reached the library. He'd started the tour by trying to tell funny stories about each room while he gave Rose the time to carefully walk around each room, getting to know the layout in the only way she knew how.

But now that they'd hit the library, James didn't think that he could reduce the place that meant so much to him into little more than a funny story. He'd poured so much of himself into the library over the years that he couldn't do anything other be quiet. So instead he remained silent and simply watched as Rose made her way around the room. "So," Rose finally began once she'd apparently had enough of the silence that James had allowed to blanket the room. "What's so special about this room?" she asked, her voice unexpectedly upbeat, almost as though she'd already grown to actually love the stories he'd been telling her.

"What isn't special about it?" James replied, hoping that she couldn't hear his smile in his voice. "It's where my dad taught me to play piano when I was little; it's the only place you can go in the Institute where you can actually find some peace." James couldn't help but continue to smile at the thought of it, the library automatically putting him in a wonderful mood every time he entered. "It's where Uncle Alec comes to study Spanish every night even though he's terrible at Spanish and he thinks no one knows how much studies it. It's where we have family meetings. Which, by the way, are not nearly as fun as they sound." As Rose began laughing, James refused to add the fact that the library was where he would come to draw when he couldn't resist any longer.

James tried to keep himself from sighing when Rose asked him to play something on the piano for her, saying that she had always loved the sound of the piano. He'd always loved playing the piano, but by no means did that mean that he actually felt as though he was any good at it. Charlie had always been far better than he was, and his father had long since stopped trying to teach him in the way that he had when James had been a child. While Charlie had seemed to inherit the ability to play the piano, James had apparently inherited the ability to draw just like his mother. Yet that was something that James almost hated despite himself. Sometimes it felt as though Charlie was the true warrior while he was most certainly the weaker of the two. So naturally James had inherited all the abilities that made him a lot less of a true Shadowhunter than everyone seemed to expect him to be.

As he played the only song he was really confident in playing, James found himself distracted by watching Rose. Out of all the people he'd met throughout the day, Rose actually seemed to be the only one who actually allowed him to relax. Out of all the new arrivals, Rose seemed to be the one person who was actually eager to be there, who actually wanted to enjoy her time at the Institute and use it to advance her career as a Shadowhunter. James was terribly excited to see the way she fit in here, but he was slightly unnerved by the fact that he knew he would end up drawing her later. No matter how hard he tried to forget about it, he felt the need to capture the way the library's light turned her hair into a much deeper golden shade, a feeling that James couldn't even begin to shake as he dropped Rose off at her room.

That night, James refused to go to his cousins for advice, knowing that they would only be confused as to why he was acting so out of character all of a sudden. That was the one thing that had been confusing him all day as well. So James tried his hardest to push past all the thoughts of Rose and the other new arrivals, all the worries over Uncles Magnus and Alec, all the frustrations over his own relationship with his father, knowing that they still needed to resolve several things. Yet when none of that seemed to work at all, James found himself in the library once more, his sketchbook in hand, trying, and failing, to figure out exactly why he'd been caught up in Rose and why he'd actually cared what she thought of him. But when he paused to actually take notice of what he was drawing, James surprised himself more than he would have thought possible. As soon as he realized what he was drawing, James began smiling for what felt like the first time all day. Apparently his mind was trying to tell him that Max was going to get the best birthday present ever this year.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry that I've been MIA! Maybe one of these days I'll get my life together enough to actually regularly update once more. But until then, please be patient with me as you all have been and help me get through not being able to write as much as I would really like to.
> 
> That being said, I make no promises as to when my next update might be, but please come talk to me about this story! I would really love to hear from some of you on what you think of these characters as I haven't heard a lot from you all on that topic yet! Hope you enjoy...yes...I have plans for them in the next couple of chapters!

The last thing George wanted to do was go to sleep. It had been a terribly long first week with the the new trainees, and George knew he needed to clear his mind before he could ever actually sleep. So George found himself walking around the Institute, automatically finding peace in the fact that the halls were empty and there was no one to bother him. Before the trainees had arrived, their parents had told all of the kids that they would be expected to go through the very same training. Yet it wasn't the training that was a problem to George. After spending his entire life training with the best Shadowhunters of his parents' generation, George was fairly certain that no amount of training would ever properly phase him.

What was truly beginning to bother George, however, was having to deal with all the strain in his family, not to mention attempting to navigate the dynamics of all the new Shadowhunters. None of them had yet to find a routine and get comfortable with their new lives at the Institute, and trying to juggle his own family problems while also trying to make sure that none of the trainees screwed up too majorly had become the only thing George really had time for at the moment. Which was why George was really still awake and walking around, trying to actually take some time for himself and think through the past few days, sorting out his thoughts in the only way that he knew how.

He was still having trouble wrapping his mind around each of the new arrivals, not to mention the way they seemed to be interacting with his family. Serena seemed to be seamlessly fitting into the family, her interactions constantly friendly and easygoing. To George, she seemed be effortlessly adjusting to the rigorous training, and she seemed incredibly eager to learn. But it was very easy to tell that out of all the new arrivals, Rose was certainly the most eager to learn. She was always incredibly receptive whenever anyone tried to teach her absolutely anything at all. The most surprising thing to George, however, was that Mason actually seemed to be very restrained, at least he was restrained considering the circumstances.

What truly told George that Mason was restraining himself was the fact that Sophie's annoyance level seemed to be very low. Sophie seemed to be making far fewer sarcastic comments than she normally did, and George was highly amused by the fact that Mason truly seemed to be trying to be much less obvious about how focused he generally was on Sophie. George had never really thought of Mason as someone to really worry about when it came to either of his little sisters, and that almost made him feel a bit guilty. Sometimes George secretly hoped that Sophie would one day give Mason a change, but he he knew that Sophie's world would likely have to completely flip inside out for that to happen.

Yet the worst part of having the new trainees at the Institute wasn't that George felt he had to worry about Sophie and Mason or that he was actually almost terrified of how amazing of a warrior Rose was. George very hesitantly admitted to himself that the worst part was having to deal with Evan and Marlies. From the moment they'd set foot in the Institute, they were the single most annoying couple George had ever encountered. For as long as he could remember, George had had an almost perfect idea of love. That wasn't to say that his parents or his aunt and uncles were perfect, but they'd always been perfect models for love, even when they were fighting like Uncles Magnus and Alec were at the moment.

So George had this idea of love that was entirely romantic, something so open, honest, and intimate that it could hardly be properly put into words. But when it came to Evan and Marlies, it was more like they wanted everyone to know just how in love they were. It was like every single kiss and every last word they spoke to one another was meant for the benefit of everyone else and not for each other. George had never been the type to be annoyed by couples just because they were in love, but when it came to Evan and Marlies, he simply couldn't get over how public they always seemed to want to be.

Yet the one thing that George simply couldn't shake was how much he seemed to be noticing Evan, even when he truly didn't want to. Despite his best efforts to keep from doing so, the one person George seemed to focusing on was Evan, and that was the last thing he truly wanted to do. So when George noticed that the light was on in the library, he automatically welcomed the distraction from his own thoughts, knowing that whoever was still up was most likely also trying to escape their thoughts as well. Yet George's heart sunk as he entered and realized exactly what was going on.

Uncle Magnus was sitting on the couch with his back to the door, but George could very easily see that there was something wrong with him. His shoulders were visibly hunched in a way that George had so rarely seen from him. Uncle Magnus was so good at hiding how he really felt that the only reason George was seeing it now was because Uncle Magnus didn't really know he was here. So George stepped forward and cleared his throat, trying his hardest to come up with something to say. Thankfully, he didn't have to think too long because Uncle Magnus spoke up instead. "What's bothering you?" he asked, automatically picking up on the reason George was awake in the first place, motioning for George to sit down with him.

"I could ask you the same," George said as he sat down, slightly happy that he earned a very small smile from Uncle Magnus. "Ever had someone so consistently on your mind but you couldn't figure out why?" George asked, trying to keep from giving away too much about what was really going on. "And you don't really want them on your mind but at the same time, you don't want to stop thinking about them so you just keep pushing through?" he finished, trying to ignore the fact that Uncle Magnus now looked very amused with him. He should have easily known that Uncle Magnus would be able to see through what he was trying to cover up.

It took several long seconds for Uncle Magnus to answer, but when he did, his voice was much heavier than George had expected it to be. "You most certainly just described the first couple of months after I met your Uncle Alec," he said, obviously trying to focus on the past instead of focusing on everything that seemed to be weighing them down in the present. George was terribly thankful when Uncle Magnus didn't ask who he was referring to himself, seemingly too caught up in his own thoughts about Uncle Alec to pick up on what George had been saying before. There was the ghost of a smile on Uncle Magnus's face, as though he was much happier to remember the past than he was to think about what was currently going on around him.

At first, George thought of leaving the conversation there, but the more he thought about the pure desperation in his uncle's voice, the more he simply couldn't ignore it. "How are the two of you?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even for his uncle's sake. George hated to admit it, but he couldn't help but study his uncle's every move, trying to pick up on the things that Uncle Magnus wasn't going to tell him. By the way Uncle Magnus ran his hands through his hair while obviously trying to gather his thoughts, George could very easily tell that there was much more going on than Uncle Magnus would ever probably admit to him. Yet George couldn't keep himself from hoping that his uncle would actually lean on him for once, especially when he could see just how much his uncle need it.

Had it been anyone else, George probably wouldn't have been brave enough to even ask about what was going on. But for as long as he could remember, he and Uncle Magnus had been closer than George would have ever really thought possible. He could very clearly remember the time he'd gotten hurt when they'd been ambushed by demons on a normal night out when he was seven. His parents had been in Idris, his father giving a couple of lectures at the Academy that week, and he could remember how Uncle Magnus had stayed with him every second, even after he'd been healed.

From then on, they'd grown increasingly closer, and now George knew nothing would ever change that. Uncle Magnus had been the first person he'd come out to, not really because he was afraid of coming out to anyone else, but simply because he hadn't really known how to at the time. And just as expected, Uncle Magnus had helped him through it in a way that didn't make him feel like he was going insane. He'd known that it was almost crazy to be afraid of coming out in their family, but Uncle Magnus had never once made him feel as though he was wrong to feel that way. After George's coming out, they'd somehow grown even closer, even though George had never thought that would be possible.

So that was part of the reason George couldn't keep himself from trying to talk to Uncle Magnus about everything that had been going on. For several weeks, he'd been able to easily see all the pain and worrying that Uncle Magnus had been bottling up inside himself, and George couldn't help but try to get that out of him in whatever way possible. "We're absolutely fine, George," Uncle Magnus finally said, but the way he put so much emphasis on the word 'fine' told George that they were far from fine. It seemed to George as though his uncle was trying to convince himself of that fact more than he was trying to convince George of it. "Your Uncle Alec and I have been to hell and back, quite literally," Uncle Magnus continued, his voice becoming ever so slightly lighter at the memories. "There is absolutely nothing about this situation with the Clave that your uncle and I can't handle."

George tried to convince himself that what his uncle was saying was true, but with a little over a day until the Clave meeting, he couldn't seem to get past the stress and strain of it all. The last thing he wanted to do, however, was make things worse than they were at the moment, so he simply waited for his uncle to continue speaking, knowing that the silence would prompt him to do so. "If I'm completely honest," Uncle Magnus continued, his voice a little lighter than it had been before. "I'm more worried about the fact that Robert will be here in the morning than anything else." Uncle Magnus's voice trailed off, but George didn't need him to continue to know what he was thinking. Tomorrow, Rafael's grandfather would be overseeing the whole Clave proceedings. As the Inquisitor, he would take the lead on the meeting, and that meant that he had decided to come to the Institute in the morning and spend the entire day with the family.

That wasn't inherently a problem, but the fact that Robert would be there all day meant that tensions would be even higher than normal. But that was certainly not due to any fault of Robert's. As long as George had been alive, Robert had made absolutely every effort possible to be the best father and grandfather he could be. As far as George knew, Robert and Uncle Alec had a functional relationship at the moment, but their relationship wasn't what was concerning Uncle Magnus. George could very clearly remember the day that Rafael had suddenly seemed to hate his grandfather with absolutely no explanation as to why. Rafael had suddenly become very cold with his grandfather, and it had begun to seem as though Rafael could hardly look at Robert any longer.

George had never directly asked Rafael why that was, mostly because he knew that Rafael would likely talk to him about it if he truly wanted to. "Tomorrow, I need you to take care of him for me," Uncle Magnus said. George didn't need him to explain to know that Uncle Magnus was now talking about Rafael and not Robert. "Whether he'd ever admit it or not, Uncle Alec and I have certainly noticed how down he's been lately. No matter what happens tomorrow, just make sure he's taken care of. Can I count on you to do that?" Uncle Magnus finished, the concern weighing his voice down. It almost surprised George that Uncle Magnus would be worried about Rafe when he had so much to worry about for himself and Uncle Alec, but then again, his uncles had always exhibited an utterly selfless love toward everyone in the family.

"He's my parabatai," George said, knowing that would explain absolutely everything that he wanted to say. "You don't need to ask me to take care of him, that's part of my job, Uncle Magnus," he continued, unable to keep himself from smiling when his uncle did so. "I just have one request of you for tomorrow." George paused for a moment, allowing his uncle the time to carefully nod. "No matter what happens tomorrow, just promise me that you and Uncle Alec are going to take care of one another." George relaxed ever so slightly when his uncle gave a low chuckle. The last thing George wanted to do was go to sleep, but he knew he was going to need all the energy possible for the morning, so he bid his uncle goodnight and promised himself that he would do whatever he needed to do to take care of his family in the coming day.

.

.

.

The next morning, George made himself get up half an hour earlier than he truly needed to just so that he could ensure he would be able to make his way to Rafael's room before Rafe actually went anywhere. "I'm not freaking out if that's what you were thinking," Rafael said as soon as George entered his room. "Both Dad and Papa have already popped in to give me what I assume they both thought were 'pep talks,' so I think I'm all pepped up for the day." George refrained from saying anything at all, simply moving to sit down on Rafe's bed. He could very easily hear the anxiety in his parabatai's voice, and he knew that everything Rafe was feeling would only get worse as the day went on. "Honestly, the worst part of today is going to be having Grandfather around literally all day long."

George resisted the urge to ask Rafael why that was, knowing that Rafael would be terribly unlikely to tell him anything at all given the current circumstances. "But at least your dads will finally get closure today, one way or another," George said, trying to make light of what was going on in the only way possible. Rafael merely snorted at that, as though he had absolutely no faith in his grandfather or the Clave. George hated to admit that he had the sinking feeling that none of them should really truly trust the Clave when it came to the matter at hand. But he tried to shove that thought aside, knowing that Rafael needed him to be the optimistic one for the day. "You know that your grandfather is going to do everything he can as Inquisitor to help them out."

In all honesty, George had really thought that that was a harmless comment, but Rafael certainly didn't seem to think so. Suddenly, Rafael had whirled on him, his tone much sharper than George had heard it in a very long time. "That's just it though, he won't," Rafe began, speaking quickly in a way that told George he was truly angry. "My grandfather would never do anything that could tarnish his perfect reputation with the Clave." The way Rafael spit out the word 'perfect' told George that he'd been bottling up a lot more than he would ever care to admit. "Robert Lightwood would never do anything that didn't directly benefit himself. He doesn't care about any of us, and I can assure you that he cares very little about the outcome of today's meeting. As long as whatever happens doesn't embarrass him, he won't care about it. He will do absolutely nothing to help my dads out, and I'd almost dare say that he's very likely to testify against them if he thinks it would help his status in the Clave."

At first, George had no idea of how to respond to his parabatai, but then Rafe came to sit down beside of him, almost as though he was exhausted by his sudden outburst. George waited until Rafe had taken several deep breaths before he began speaking, knowing that the last thing he needed to do was upset Rafe even more than he already was. But George knew this was the time to ask about whatever had happened to cause Rafe to feel this way about his grandfather. "I'm going to need you to explain that right now, and no-" George held up his hand as Rafael opened his mouth to interrupt. "Don't try to change the subject or tell me it was nothing. That was obviously something, and I'm not going to properly be able to help you get through today if I don't know exactly what is going on."

They sat in silence for several agonizingly long moments, but George knew that Rafael simply needed time to figure out exactly what he wanted to say. "It's just that I know the kind of man he is, even if he thinks he's working so wonderfully to hide it from us. He thinks he's gotten away with so much, and maybe he has, but if he has, that's my fault." Rafael paused once more, and George could see just how hard this conversation was on him, just how hard it was for him to admit what had happened. "I think I was eight," Rafael said, seemingly resigning himself to the fact that he was going to have to tell his parabatai the truth no matter what else he really might want to do at the moment. "When I overheard Grandfather talking to some of his friends from the Clave."

George had a sinking feeling that he knew almost exactly what Rafe was going to say next, but he forced himself to remain silent, knowing that it was far from the time to speak up. "I knew that I was going to get in a lot of trouble if anyone found out that I was listening to them, but when I heard what he was saying, I couldn't move a muscle. At first, he was talking about Uncle Raphael. George, I'll never be able to explain what I felt when I very clearly heard him say, 'For the life of me, I still cannot even begin to fathom why Alexander would have ever thought that naming his son after a vampire was a good idea." The problem with what Rafael was saying was that George really didn't have any trouble believing that it had happened.

"At first, I really wasn't able to believe that I had heard it. I mean, if it weren't for Uncle Raphael who knows if even Dad would be here, much less Papa, Max, and me." Rafael took yet another deep breath, as though he was trying his hardest to keep it together in a moment that he least wanted to have to keep it together. "But then he kept talking, saying something like, 'And don't even get me started on Max. I think we all know how much of a disgrace it is to have a warlock named after my Shadowhunter son.'" At that, George reached over to place a hand on Rafael's arm, suddenly realizing just what bottling this in had done to Rafe over the years. "He went on to talk about just how much he hated the fact that Dad had even had the nerve to adopt a warlock baby in the first place. I think I left as soon as he said something about how he could hardly look at Max half of the time."

It was then that George realized the sacrifice that Rafael had been making for half of his life. Rafael didn't need to explain himself for George to understand that he'd kept this a secret because he hadn't wanted to hurt his family. "And I'd rather not talk about what I heard him say about Papa as well before I left." George knew that rather than ruin the now functional relationship that Uncle Alec had with his father, Rafe had kept it bottled up within himself. Rather than ruining Max's love for his grandfather, rather than hurting his Papa, Rafael had opted to let himself have to struggle with everything that he'd heard. "I know what you're thinking," Rafael said, his voice hinting at a bit of a smile. "And no, I still have no desire to tell either of my dads. In the eleven years that I've kept this from them, I have never once been able to find any reason that would justify telling them and hurting this family like that."

George's heart dropped when Rafael finished speaking, but not because of what his parabatai was saying. The last thing he had expected was for the door to begin opening before Rafael had so much as finished his sentence. George repressed a groan as Uncle Alec entered the room. "Don't worry, son," Uncle Alec said, his voice much stronger than George might have expected it to be. "After today, you will never again have to worry about trying to be the least bit civil to your grandfather. If he so much as comes near either you or Max again, he'll have me to answer to, I can assure you of that." At that, Uncle Alec turned to walk out of the room, and all George could do was tighten his grip on Rafael's arm, knowing that the rest of the day was going to be one of the hardest days he'd ever encountered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I am so infinitely sorry that it has been so long since I updated anything at all! (I know you're probably tired of hearing that every time I post something) But there are only two weeks of school left before winter break, so the past few weeks have been crazy busy, and the next couple will be even worse. That being said, I hope to get a lot of writing done over break, but I might not be able to post again until then.
> 
> All of that being said, please come talk to me about my stories! Also, I'd be very open to suggestions on what you all would want to see me write in the near future! I'd like to do something special for you all for Christmas, but I'm low on ideas, so anything you could throw my way would be helpful!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Rafael was entirely certain that his world was crashing down in around him. The absolute last thing he had wanted to happen was for his conversation with George to rip apart his family in the way he knew that it would. As they made their way to the library to get to the portal, Rafael felt as though all the breath had been sucked out of his lungs. He couldn't take a full breath, his chest was far too tight to allow for it. The only thing he was actually sure of at the moment was the fact that George being by his side was the only thing keeping him on his feet. His parabatai was really the only reason Rafael knew he was going to be able to walk through that portal and enter Idris with his head held high, the only reason that he could keep putting one foot in front of the other.

As they waited for his papa to finish his work on the portal, Rafael couldn't help but study the way his parents were interacting with one another. Almost suddenly, they'd become close again, as though the stress and pain of the day was uniting them. They seemed to be no longer trying to avoid one another, but that didn't mean that it fully erased the tension they were both feeling. But Rafael was ever so slightly relieved that they now seemed comfortable with one another. Rafael felt George's hand fall on his shoulder as he looked toward Max. His little brother was very eagerly talking to their grandfather about how excited he was to get the day over with so that their fathers could finally get married. Rafael couldn't help but clench his fists, the only thing he could do to keep from actually saying something to Max.

Rafael couldn't tell what hurt his heart the most about the situation. There was the fact that his grandfather was very clearly forcing himself to be kind to Max, or at least, it was clear to Rafael since he knew how Robert truly felt. But there was also the fact that Max was so oblivious to what was going on. Max was genuinely happy to see Robert, but Rafael quickly concluded that the worst part was how much hope and faith Max had in their situation. He seemed as though he was entirely convinced that their dads would begin planning their wedding in just a few short hours. Rafael only had to glance at each of his dads to know exactly how they were feeling about the situation as well.

Rafael assumed that his dad had yet to tell his papa of what he'd earlier overheard. But that was mostly because of the fact that his papa still felt comparatively comfortable around Robert. "Max, come here. Now," their dad said as he finished his part of helping their papa with the portal. There was no warmth in his voice, not like there usually was. There was no room for argument, and Rafael could very clearly see just how much it surprised both Max and Robert. Yet Max didn't argue, mostly because he seemed to understand that his father wasn't going to back down. The only thing that kept Rafael calm as he followed his family through the portal was the fact that he was entirely certain by the look on his dad exchanged with him that the last thing his dad wanted was to hurt Max by admitting to him what was going on with Robert. So Rafael took a deep breath and promised himself that he would stick by his little brother's side no matter what the day would bring.

.

.

.

Rafael sat down with his little brother on one side and his parabatai on the other, but that didn't seem to calm his nerves in any way. Mostly because he knew that their lives would change one way or the other by the end of the meeting, and Rafael already hated change on principle. Rafael couldn't help but clench his fists as Robert began the meeting. As the Inquisitor, Robert would conduct the meeting from start to finish, which didn't do anything at all to help him relax about any part of the situation. Max gave him a weird look but didn't move to ask for an explanation, and Rafael knew it was because he was far too nervous to speak up now that the meeting was in full swing. Not that Max would ever admit to being nervous.

The last thing Rafael truly wanted to do was to pay attention to what was happening in the meeting. He knew that the more he listened to it, the worse his thoughts would become, the more worried and anxious he would become, and the harder it would be to control himself. So instead of focusing on what his grandfather was saying or the reasoning some of the Clave members were giving for being for or against the change in law, Rafael simply focused on the people around him, studying their body language.

To someone who didn't know him very well, Rafael knew that Max would most likely appear to be the calmest of them all. Max had always been very good at hiding how he really felt, especially when he felt as though the rest of the family needed him to do so. It was easy for Rafael to see that Max certainly thought that their dads needed him to stay strong, so he was covering up how nervous he truly was, covering up the fact that the majority of things being said by the Clave members made him want to flinch away from them. Rafael slowly reached to place his hand over Max's, happy to feel his little brother relax ever so slightly.

Rafael couldn't help but smile when he realized just how intensely George was listening to the meeting. His parabatai was on the edge of his seat, his scowl deepening every time someone said anything against the change. George's eyes were narrowed, his posture and attention almost as if he was in battle. Had it been anyone else, the intensity might have scared Rafael, but he knew that George was simply an intense person; there was hardly a thing that George did that he wasn't so fiercely passionate about.

It hurt to do so, but Rafael forced himself to shift his attention to his parents, unable to keep from worrying about how the meeting was affecting them. He was happy to see, however, that they were actually holding hands, something Rafael was certain that he hadn't seen them do in months. They both looked as though they were leaning on the other for support, something that Rafael knew they both desperately needed at the moment. Yet when Rafael saw his dad visibly flinch and Max moved to squeeze his hand, Rafael was forced to begin paying attention to what his grandfather was currently saying.

Robert was clearly already beginning to wrap the meeting up, giving his final statements before allowing the rest of the Clave to vote on the matter, and what he was saying came as a complete shock to Rafael. Although the greatest problem was that after everything he'd heard, after everything Rafael had learned about Robert, he knew it shouldn't have been a surprise in the slightest. "To change this law would be to defile the names and honor of Shadowhunters forevermore," Robert said, looking directly at Alec and Magnus as he did so. "For centuries, the Law has placed Downworlders beneath us, and for very good reason."

Rafael tried to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat as he squeezed Max's hand back, but he knew it would be of no use. "To even suggest changing this marriage law means to raise to raise Downworlders up as equals, a despicable act that would only lead to the Clave's eventual downfall." Rafael had always secretly known how his grandfather felt about Downworlders, but he'd never really admitted it to himself until now. He'd lived most of his life ignoring what he'd heard from Robert, trying to forget that it had actually happened. Yet now that he could see the tears in Max's eyes, now that he once again heard what his grandfather was saying, Rafael knew there was no way he could ever move past it. "Is there anyone else who would like to speak before we put this matter to a vote?" Robert asked, his voice almost demanding that no one speak.

Before he really knew what he was doing, Rafael was on his feet. He couldn't stand the sight of those around him, those he knew were in favor of the the change, sitting by passively watching the meeting unfold. "I would," Rafael announced, refusing to look at his parents, knowing that they were both giving him looks that were likely full of both surprise and fear. Rafael gave Max's hand one final squeeze as he gently shoved George's hand away, his parabatai already anticipating the potential consequences of what he was about to do. But Rafael knew that he had to ignore the consequences and take them for what they were when they eventually came his way. So Rafael took a deep breath and plunged right in, knowing that that was the only option he had.

"You people call my parents heroes, and rightfully so," he began, his voice much steadier than he had expected it to be. "For years, you've celebrated them, both of them, as heroes of the Mortal and Dark Wars. For years, you've treated both of them as equals because it was convenient for you to do so." Rafael forced himself to look directly at Robert as he said this, knowing that he was mostly responding to what his grandfather has just said. "Yet as soon as they request that you actually begin to treating them as equals, you squirm in your seats because you never imagined that you'd have to do anything other than treat them like heroes once a year. You people treat them likes heroes because they saved the world multiple times, but these men are heroes for so much more than that."

Rafael risked a glance at his parents, but that was all he could take a the moment, their almost heartbroken expressions too much for him to bear. "Sitting before you today are two men who are finally fighting for their right to be treated as equals after years of selflessly fighting for others." Rafael resisted the urge to look back at Max, knowing that doing so would likely break his will. "Here are two men who not only fought to save the world, but fought to save two misfit children who had absolutely nowhere else to go. You see war heroes, but my little brother and I see two men who laid down their own lives to give us the lives they felt we deserved. My dad has spent years trying to learn Spanish despite the fact that he's inherently terribly at it, simply because he knows what it would mean to me. My papa spent over ten years of Max's life glamouring my little brother because Max didn't have the power to do it himself yet, simply because he knew what it meant to Max."

Rafael almost felt as though he was running out of courage, as though he was beginning to be weighed down by the thought of what he was actually doing, But then he glanced at his Uncle Jace and found the encouragement he needed in his uncle's look of pride. "What they're asking for today is simple acknowledgement of the fact that the Clave has been treating them as heroes and equals for years. They're asking for an acknowledgement of the fact that the Clave treats Downworlders like equals when it's convenient for them, like they do every single time the Accords comes into play."

As Rafael began to finish his speech, wondering how it had actually turned into a speech, he allowed himself to look back at his parents once more. "If you'd like to acknowledge the fact that my dads are heroes, stop throwing parties for them and start doing something that actually matters, something that will actually better their lives and the lives of all the other unrecognized heroes who deserve the recognition just as much as my parents do." With that, Rafael sat down, holding back a smile when both George and Max immediately placed their hands on his arms, both of them trying to comfort him despite the fact that they likely knew he couldn't be comforted.

Once again, Rafael took his mind off of the meeting as his grandfather stood up once more, refusing to think about what he'd just done. In the moment, it had seemed like the best idea possible. But now that he was out of the moment, Rafael was already beginning to overthink it. Of course, he knew that he overthought the majority of things in his life as a general rule. So Rafael gladly followed his parents out of the room as the Clave asked for time to deliberate and vote, his nervousness increasing by the second, but mostly because he was more anxious to see how his parents were going to react to what he just did than he was over anything else.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! So I got a comment that I can't answer directly because the person is a guest, so I thought I would answer it here, as it could be confusing to others as well! The comment had to do with me having so many characters and not being able to figure out what's going on with which character at what particular time. As of right now, it's safe to assume that every chapter happens one right after another, unless otherwise specified. If I don't mention a particular character in that chapter, then it's also safe to assume that what they're doing at that point in time isn't going to affect the overall plotline. They're either training or reading or taking a lazy day for themselves or just generally being the kids of our beloved TMI characters. If you really, really want to know what a particular character was doing, come ask me, and I'm sure I can come up with something if I haven't already specifically thought about it.
> 
> The reason I have so many characters is for a few reasons. I really couldn't envision any of the TMI characters having small families, meaning any less than two kids. I'm not really sure why that is, but I just couldn't. I also really wanted to be able to work with the family dynamics, and doing so with a big family is much easier to me. I'm writing from different points of view each time because I would like to get to know each of my characters as much as I would like for you all to get to know them. I could have James tell you everything there is to know about Maddie, but until we all take a look inside Maddie's head, we won't really know her. That being said, I do plan on writing A LOT about these kids, and I also plan on going back and filling in different bits and pieces along the way. So if you like one of them more than the others, just be patient with me, and I promise I will write more about them than I may have at this point. Thanks for bearing with me, and don't hesitate to come talk to me about my babies! I could go on and on about them all day! But I won't because we'd better just get back to the story!

Maddie hadn't realized she'd even fallen asleep until she felt Max's gentle hands trying to wake her from her nightmare. She was infinitely glad to see Max's face upon waking up, knowing that her brother was the best person to actually help her handle the nightmare, not to mention the day's events. She'd stayed behind at the Institute while everyone else went to the Clave meeting mostly because she absolutely hated Clave meetings. The few times Maddie had tried to make it through Clave meetings, she'd found it completely unbearable. So with the understanding of her dads, she'd studiously avoided Clave meetings, even when it was a meeting as important as today's had been.

It was because of the fact that today's meeting would have such an impact on their family that Maddie had set her alarm for the middle of the night and had been trying to stay up until she could find out what the outcome had been. But the time difference between Idris and New York had proven too much for her to handle, as she'd apparently fallen back to sleep while reading. As Maddie sat up and gave Max the room to slide into bed beside of her, she didn't have to pose the question that was on her mind to know the answer to it. Her brother's eyes were filled with tears that she knew had been threatening to fall since he'd been in Idris, tears that began streaming down his face almost as soon as he'd sat down.

"I don't understand," Max said, his voice raw with emotion that he was unable to hide. Maddie knew that Max was generally too gentle and loving to hide his emotions, his heart too big for him to keep anything inside for long. "How can the Clave tell them no? How can the Clave even begin to justify taking away anyone's rights like this?" Maddie placed her hand on Max's, knowing that her brother had had a blind faith in the Clave, had imagined that after today their dads would be married and that they would finally be happy once again. "How can Grandfather justify anything he said?" Max's voice broke under the weight of his words, and Maddie finally understood what had actually caused Max to break down. Max might have a terribly gentle soul, but he had always been stronger than imaginable, and it took a lot to break him in this way.

Maddie listened as Max recounted the night's events, telling her of how their grandfather had stood against their parents in the meeting, working to keep the Law the way it currently was. Max had always been closest to their grandfather, so she knew that he was hurting more over what had happened with Robert than he was over the Clave's decision. Max's voice broke when he told her his suspicions that Rafael knew more about why their grandfather had reacted this wy than he was letting on at the moment. Maddie was about to respond to Max when she involuntarily tightened her hand around Max's. Maddie's room was not very far from the library, which was apparently where their dads had gone once they'd gotten back as far as Maddie could tell from the sudden onslaught of yelling.

It was very clear, however, that their dads weren't angry with one another. From what Maddie could gather, it was clear that Robert had decided to come back with them. It was strange, however, to hear that her papa seemed to be trying to calm her dad down. It was almost as though he was trying to protect Robert, and in a weird way, it made Maddie as angry as it seemed to be making her dad. Maddie audibly sighed in relief when Max waved his hand and the noise was gone. "Thank you," she all but sighed, her voice much quieter than she would have expected. Max knew just how much yelling and fighting bothered her, especially when she could hear her dad's pain in his voice.

Before Max could say anything else, Maddie had reached up to wipe his tears away, hoping that she could do something productive in order to decrease her own anxiety. Max gave her the weakest of smiles. Maddie continued speaking, this time changing the subject instead of commenting on what was currently at hand. "How were your lessons with Uncle Luke?" she asked, earning an even wider smile from her brother. Max had gotten the chance to stay with their uncle Luke for a couple days, learning more about Downworlder affairs than he likely cared to know. Maddie hadn't gotten the chance to talk to him since he'd gotten back, not with everything that had gone on with their family.

"They were alright," Max said, his voice tense and tight. "Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with Uncle Luke, and I love everything he has to teach me," he continued, his voice becoming softer with each word. "It was just really hard to stay focused with all that's going on here. With dads fighting the way they were, and now this." Max's voice trailed off as his mind once again directed him toward the Clave meeting. This time, Maddie remained silent, knowing that speaking about it would only make things worse. Max needed the time to process what had happened,

"We should train together tomorrow," Max suddenly said, his voice distant this time, as though his mind was once again on their parents and the night's events. Maddie knew that Max was requesting this because he was aware of the fact that his sister was the only person he could train with and use his magic as his weapon. With the others, he was forced to train with swords and daggers, but with Maddie, he could fight the way their papa had been teaching him for years, like a warlock. All Maddie could do at this point was nod, feeling herself slipping back into sleep as Max got up and made his way to the door.

.

.

.

The next morning, Maddie surprisingly found herself trying her hardest to hold back laughter. "You didn't tell me she was blind," Max was saying to James, their lowered voices still carrying across the almost silent training room. Max had just accidentally run into Rose to which he'd asked her if she'd even seen him there. Rose had obviously immediately replied that she actually had not seen him there, that she hadn't seen anything, and Max had stammered the most awkwardly heartfelt apology that Maddie had ever heard him make. "Why didn't you inform me of that? Don't you think that's pretty important, James?" Max asked, his voice raised a few octaves from his embarrassment.

"I may be blind," Rose said, her voice dripping with amusement as she turned back toward James and Max, throwing a smile to Maddie and Anna who were standing together trying to hide their laughter. "But my hearing is absolutely astounding, and much better than yours, I might add." Maddie turned around when she heard her papa laughing as he walked in, clearly not caring who heard him laugh about it.

Everyone turned to him then, and Maddie could clearly tell that Max was incredibly thankful for the interruption. At least he was until their papa spoke up. "And I have no doubt that her fighting will give yours a run for its money, son," their papa said, his voice clearly bearing the teasing and loving tone that it had been missing for several weeks, and Maddie was terribly relieved to hear it. But what relieved her the most was the sight of both of her fathers together, her dad walking in with a smile on his face. Maddie knew that this was likely the first time he had smiled in weeks.

"Stop patronizing them, Magnus," he said, his voice relaxed and clear, the complete opposite of what it had been the night before. "As you've all been here for just over a week," he continued, this time addressing the trainees. "We're going to take today to test you all and assess your skill level. After today, we will begin training you with personalized programs. We will also be meeting with each one of you individually, so as to gather information about how you wish to proceed with your training and what you wish to learn from your time here." At that, Marlies and Evan both chuckled, as though they felt they had nothing to gain from the next few months of training.

Maddie was not at all surprised when her father picked up on this, and she tried to hide her smile as he turned to them. "You believe there is nothing you can learn while here?" he asked, his voice hinting at his amusement. "If that's the case, then I'm sure you won't mind going first for this part of the test." He motioned toward the targets they had set up for an archery test. As Evan and Marlies confidently strode to pick out their bows, Alec spoke yet again, trying and failing to hide his eagerness. "Max, Jamie, why don't you join them as a comparison?" He asked, earning the most lovingly of amused smiles from Magnus.

It was hard to not notice the look on James's face when he heard his uncle call him by the nickname he'd had since he was little. Maddie knew that her dad was the only person he still allowed to call him by that name, seeing as they had always been the closest, but he clearly hadn't expected to hear it in this sort of setting. But both Max and James moved to pick up bows of their own, neither making a comment on the situation. Everyone in the room knew what Alec was doing by asking them to compare their skills to Marlies and Evan's. James wasn't exactly known for his skills in fighting, and Max was a warlock, so people always assumed that he couldn't fight like a Shadowhunter.

But Maddie also knew that her brother and cousin had much better aim than her father wanted Marlies and Evan to know at the moment. She wanted nothing more than to watch the two new arrivals quickly discover that their arrogance was far from warranted, but she got distracted when her uncle Jace came in and motioned for her papa. Though they were halfway across the training room, Maddie could still hear them if she focused wholly on what they were saying, her werewolf senses giving her the extra boost she needed. "What kind of killing, Jace?" Magnus was saying, his voice tense yet controlled.

It took a moment for Maddie to understand what her uncle was trying to convey, her concentration broken ever so slightly by Max and James's laughter. "The murder of an entire werewolf family, Magnus. Seems demonic in origin from what Luke told me. But he wants you to see it with your own eyes due to some 'odd circumstances,' as he called them. Plus, the family's daughter survived," Jace finished, his eyes flickering toward Maddie for just a moment. Up until that point, Maddie had forced herself to pretend as though she wasn't listening to their conversation, but as soon as her uncle said this, she moved to walk toward them as quickly as possible, ignoring Anna's questioning gaze.

"I want to go with you," she said as soon as her papa realized she was there. Maddie knew that he would want to talk her out of it, so she decided to make sure that wasn't an option for him. "I won't interfere with the investigation, I just want to help the girl," she added, willing her papa to give in despite his general overprotectiveness of her. After several agonizing moments that her papa was likely dragging out to be dramatic, he finally nodded and sighed, apparently sensing that she wouldn't give up on the matter.

"I'm going, too," Rafael said, coming up behind Maddie and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Uncle Luke's orders," he added, handing his phone to their papa. Maddie couldn't help but laugh at her papa's exasperated sigh as he shoved Rafael's phone back into his hands. Maddie's smile only widened as she followed her papa out of the training room as he waved off her dad's questioning gaze, mumbling something about mischievous Lightwood children.

.

.

.

Maddie was no stranger to blood and death, so it wasn't the inherent violence of the crime scene that bothered her to the point of nausea. What truly caught her attention and made Maddie feel sick was the fact that her first glimpse of the scene told her just how little respect the murderer had for the lives they had taken. Not to mention that the little girl huddled in the corner reminded her eerily of herself. It was very clear from the way the girl had her arms wrapped around herself, her eyes darting from one person to another that she was utterly and completely terrified. "As I said, she only speaks Spanish," Luke said, bringing Maddie out of her thoughts and memories. "And we all know that my Spanish is barely competent, so I need you to talk to her and calm her down while I have your papa help me with the investigation."

Uncle Luke's words had been directed at Rafael, but Maddie was the first to make a move, going to sit down in front of the little girl without a second thought, blocking her from the scene that still remained in front of her. Her Spanish wasn't the best in the world, much worse than Max's considering that they'd both picked it up at a young age, so Maddie simply waited a few moments for Rafael to come sit beside of her. "Hola," he said, his voice almost unbearably soft. "Me llamo Rafael." The girl, who Maddie decided couldn't be more than ten years old, very quietly told Rafael that her name was Gabriella. Maddie smiled as her brother continued, telling Gabriella how beautiful he thought her name was.

People often thought that Max was the gentlest and kindest of them all, but as Maddie sat listening to her eldest brother converse with Gabriella, she realized that Rafael was just as kind as their dad or Max. As he explained to the little girl before him that she was completely safe and that they were only there to help her, Maddie began to understand Rafael seemed to feel as though the little girl before him was his own little sister, as though he was helping Maddie in his own strange way. "Maddie?" he said suddenly, his voice tearing Maddie away from her thoughts. "She wants to know how you got your scars and I-" Rafael's voice trailed off as though he simply didn't want to continue, not that he didn't know how.

The question came as such a surprise to Maddie that at first, she didn't know how to react. Her first thought was that the little girl before her did not need to be exposed to the horrors of her past, but then Maddie reminded herself that Gabriella had likely just watched as her family had been brutally murdered, and she knew that there was no such thing as protecting Gabriella any longer. So she took a deep breath and nodded to her brother, trying her best to give him a smile. "It's alright to go ahead and tell her," she said, not trusting her own Spanish abilities to convey something so complicated.

There was a moment's pause in which Rafael nervously stirred in a way that he rarely did, his expression far from the stoic air gone from his demeanor. Seeing him this way was uncomfortable to Maddie, as she was usually the one who generally exhibited nervous habits. Both of her brothers were always so genuinely strong and put together that seeing Rafael squirm in the slightest was difficult for her. Very slowly, Rafael responded, as though he felt he was pushing her too far. "The problem, Madison, is that I don't exactly know myself," he replied, his voice much heavier than it had been before. "I know that they came from your parents, but I tried telling her that and she wants to know why. The problem is that that's all I know, Maddie. I know they did horrible things to you, but that's all I know."

Rafael abruptly speaking, his gaze shifting from Maddie to the floor. At first, Maddie was genuinely surprised that her brother didn't know any more than the fact that she had been abused. But then she realized that her fathers weren't the kind of men who went around sharing about other people's personal lives, even when it came to sharing things among family members. "I wasn't born a werewolf," she began, pausing for Rafael to translate for her. "But I was bitten when I was two, so I don't remember life as a mundane." She paused yet again, trying to keep from focusing on the fact that her papa and uncle had stopped talking, clearly listening to what she had to say.

"After I Changed under the full moon for the first time, they absolutely hated me," Maddie continued, trying to put words to something that she couldn't exactly describe. "They locked me in the basement and fed me only when absolutely necessary. But they seemed to find pleasure in discovering new ways to hurt me, to torture what they saw as the monster that lived inside of me. Especially when it came to using silver," she said, motioning toward some of the scars on her arms. It was then she realized that Rafael had stopped translating, that he was looking at his hands and clearly trying to gather himself before speaking once more. So Maddie did the only thing she could think to do at the moment, and she placed a hand on her brother's arm, continuing to speak despite herself.

"But Rafael, make sure she knows that Luke was the one who rescued me and helped me find a loving family," she continued, the hint of a smile springing up in her voice. "Make sure she knows that he is going to help her in the same way he helped me. Make sure she understands just how gentle and kind and noble he is. Because that's the part that matters. What my parents did pales in comparison to the kindness and love that I have been shown since I was rescued." Maddie looked up as Rafael finally continued speaking, the noise of her papa moving away from them distracting her for a moment.

But that moment was long enough for Maddie to finally figure out what was wrong with the scene before them. Until then, she hadn't looked closely enough at the actual murder to understand why Uncle Luke had wanted help. But looking back at her papa from this direction, Maddie saw that it was actually very easy to catch. The murder scene was meticulous, or at least as meticulous as one could be with blood and violence. It was a scene that she had been exposed to in countless lessons before, and one that she knew she was likely to never forget. The blood had been carefully laid out in rune-like symbols. Except these were runes of darkness, and Maddie knew that they had never come from any angel.

The scene before her looked inexplicably like a sort of summoning or seance, and as Maddie moved to help Gabriella gather her things in order to leave with them, she resolved that she would not rest until she figured out exactly why that was. Maddie knew that she shouldn't get involved, but the way the little girl was holding onto her hand as though it was the only thing keep her grounded, the way that her brother was looking at her with a sort of pity that she had never before seen only made her all the more determined. The look in her papa's eyes told her that there was something dark at work here. The look in her brother's eyes told her that she had a lot more opening up and explaining to do once they got home. And she knew that neither of those were things that she could avoid, so she prepared herself to embrace them instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I couldn't give you all any more Spanish than that! I'm majoring in German, so unfortunately, my Spanish is very limited, as you just saw!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this, and I'll be trying to get myself together enough to update more often! Until then, don't forget to leave a comment and let me know how you're feeling about the story and the kids!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I do not apologize for the tangent that this chapter sort of goes off on! I meant to make this a chapter of normal length, but my hands slipped and I accidentally wrote about 2,500 words more than normal. But I do promise you all that the story told in this chapter will carry great importance later on, so this isn't merely a very long tangent of pleasure. Though I was thoroughly pleased to finally be able to write this!
> 
> I wanted to also take this time to remind everyone that I do not tag/warn about major character deaths! That has nothing to do with this particular chapter, but it will come into play towards the middle/end of this story. So just keep that in mind as you're reading. If you would like to know one way or the other about a character's well being, you can always message me because I do understand that it can be a sensitive thing for some people. But I try to preserve the element of surprise as best as possible in my stories because we all know I like to leave off on cliffhangers, and if I've tagged a character death, it would defeat the purpose of the cliffhanger.
> 
> All that being said, I hope you enjoy this rather lengthy chapter! Please do let me know your thoughts because it is by far my favorite thus far! Thank you all so much for continuing to stick with me!

Not for the first night that week, James couldn't sleep, troubled by thoughts that wouldn't settle long enough for him to get some rest. But the problem was that "troubled" wasn't the right word for how he felt, as the thoughts were pleasant ones instead of the usual horrible ones. It had been a month and a half since the training program had begun and the Clave meeting had happened, and for once in James's life, everything seemed to be calm and somewhat cheerful. Things actually seemed somewhat normal, or as normal as they could be when your entire family was famous for saving the world. But James was still weary of relaxing into the normality of it all, knowing that with this kind of family, the peace could change in the blink of an eye.

Mason was acting exactly the way everyone knew he would, but James was slightly proud of the fact that Mason seemed to be toning down his crush on Sophie, trying his hardest to keep his distance and to annoy her as little as possible. James had been utterly surprised to find that Mason was one of the best of the Shadowhunters in the training program. Serena certainly had talent in abundance, but to James she seemed as though she lacked the motivation to acquire any more talent. Evan, Marlies, and Preston were all warriors, there was no doubt about that. But they were too arrogant and unrefined. Mason had the same sort of refined technique that James often saw in his father, it was simply that the perfect technique that Mason had was wholly unexpected from someone like him.

But James would never hesitate to admit that Rose was certainly the best of the new trainees. From the moment she'd set foot inside the training room, she'd outshone all of them, not to mention that she was definitely a much better fighter than James and a few of his cousins as well. Rose greatly intrigued James, and mostly because he knew that her lack of sight did nothing to hinder her fighting abilities. He would almost dare say that she was better because of it. He'd enjoyed spending time with her when he'd found it possible, especially after he realized that she laughed and smiled in earnest even when he made the biggest fool of himself.

Yet it was this intrigue and enjoyment that was bothering James the most. He was unable to sleep with his hands itching to draw the way they were. So he'd ended up in the library yet again, doing the one thing that he hated the most. James had never understood his hatred of drawing, and he knew he never would, but he felt as though he'd gotten the short end of the straw. He'd inherited his mother's red hair and artistic abilities, but Charlie had been the one to inherit almost everything that had ever made their father the warrior he was. Yet James knew that he couldn't keep his thoughts off of Rose, no matter how hard he tried, so he knew the only thing to do was allow himself to draw and wade through his thoughts.

James finally looked up from his sketch when he heard his Uncle Alec clear his throat before sitting down beside of James. "Drawing again?" he asked, the hint of a smile in his tone. His uncle was one of the only people who truly knew both the extent of his artistic abilities as well as the extent of his hatred for them. So James didn't attempt to hide his sketch from his uncle, knowing that it would be useless to do so. "She must be a very special girl," Alec continued, and James could hear the knowing and understanding tone and he knew that his uncle was thinking of his own love. "Mind telling me what's keeping you up?" he finally asked, getting to the inevitable question they had both known was coming.

Sighing, James turned toward his uncle, happy to see that Alec seemed much more relaxed than he had in weeks. His uncles seemed to be gracefully adjusting to the news that they would never be married in the way that they most desired, and James was furiously happy to know that. He had been scared that the news would crush them to the point of permanently altering their relationship, but they seemed to be closer than ever before, and James found himself wishing for a love that could handle life the way theirs always did. "I've been spending a lot of time with her, just the two of us," James explained, smiling at the thought of the peace it brought him to simply sit beside her and read a book as she read one of her own that was written in Braille. "It's just that I've begun noticing such discord between the Rose I see in the training room and the Rose I see when it's just us. When I'm the only one around, she is honestly the kindest, sweetest girl I've ever met. But when it comes to the training program, she seems so cold and closed off. And I can't seem to get the two to mesh together in my mind."

For several moments, Alec seemed to think about what James had just said, his silence the contemplative sort that James was all too familiar with. "I've been paying careful attention to her during training," Alec finally said, his voice betraying that he knew he was admitting something he wasn't entirely proud of. "I have noticed what you're talking about, James, but I've come to believe that she realizes that she has to act much colder, tougher, and harder in order to achieve the things she wishes to achieve with her life." James knew his face was a mixture of confusion and understanding, which was confusing in and of itself. He thought he knew where his uncle was going with this, but he wasn't entirely sure, so he remained silent just in case.

"When your father and I began recruiting for this program, Rose's name continuously came out on top, which is no surprise after seeing the way she fights," Alec continued, his voice soft and thoughtful. "But both your father and I were extremely hesitant to bring her here to train. In the end, she set up a meeting with us to actually show us how capable she is and her passion for being in the program." His uncle's words came as no surprise to James, not when he knew just how much this opportunity meant to Rose. "One thing that you have to realize, Jamie, is that she has been treated differently her entire life because of her differences. And whether that's right or wrong, it's something she's had to adapt to."

James hated when his uncle was so horribly right as he was now, but James supposed that he should be used to that by now, as he couldn't remember a time that his uncle had actually been wrong when giving advice. "I think you should count yourself lucky that she's sharing this part of herself with you," Alec said, glancing at James and his sketch in a way that told James he was indicating that he should consider sharing a part of himself with her as well. "As a person who has felt as though he had to build walls around himself to keep from being hurt, trust me when I say that she likely feels as though remaining tough and cold is the only way that she can be taken seriously. If she is breaking down those walls when you are around, then it likely means she's comfortable with you, not that she is trying to be a different person."

After considering his uncle's words for several moments, James finally responded, his smile beginning to widen enough to cover his face. "I hate it when you're right," he admitted, earning just as wide of a smile from his uncle. After putting the finishing touches on his sketch, James finally allowed himself to go back to bed, his uncle's words calming his mind enough that he knew he could finally actually fall asleep. James knew that he might never be happy that he had inherited his mother's artistic abilities, but the one thing he had inherited that he would always cherish was his father's flare for planning and scheming. And it was that thought that allowed him to fall asleep with a smile on his face.

.

.

.

James spent the next day trying to convince himself that he should talk to Rose and go about actually using the plan he'd come up with the night before. But the problem was that every time he thought about it, it made James's stomach clench in anticipation and nervousness. He knew that he shouldn't try to talk himself out of it, but the longer he watched her train that day, the more worried he became that she wouldn't actually like what he had planned. He wanted to talk to Max or George about it, but he was afraid that their inevitable laughter would scare him away from it. So in the end, James decided that there was no harm in trying, that he wouldn't know her answer unless he tried, so he steeled himself for attempting to set his plan into motion that night.

The last thing that James wanted to do was interrupt Rose when he found her in the library reading another book in Braille. But James also didn't need any more excuses to put off talking to her. If he let himself put it off now, he would only make more excuses later. Rose stopped moving her hand across the page when she heard him enter, and in order to keep up his courage, James began speaking before she could say anything at all. "Rose, I have a question for you," he said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. He watched as Rose slowly reached for her bookmark, marking her page in a way that said she wasn't too confident about James's question. James swallowed the lump in his throat, giving everything he had to attempt to calm his nerves.

"Let me guess," Rose responded, her voice icy cold in a way James hadn't expected. "You want to know how I lost my sight. Or maybe how I can actually fight so well." James remained silent, mostly because he was too stunned to say anything else, his uncle's words about the walls Rose had built echoing in his head. "Or you want to ask something else that treats me as though all I am is my disability. Well, go ahead and get it over with." As Rose finished speaking, James couldn't figure out what to do. Part of him wanted to just turn around and leave. But the other part of him recognized Rose's pain and rightful anger and wanted to comfort her. So instead he took a deep breath and dove in.

"That wasn't it at all," James replied, watching the relief and the regret wash over Rose's face. He wanted to reassure her, but instead he just pushed on, hoping he was doing the right thing. "I was actually going to ask if you would go to dinner with me tonight." James could hardly stand the expression that flashed across Rose's face. It was so full of such innocent and open surprise that it tore at James's heart. He knew that none of his family had ever directly asked Rose about her blindness, that none of them had ever judged her in any way because of it. But it suddenly hit James that the rest of the world was rarely so courteous as his family, and he wanted nothing more than to change that for Rose.

Sure, James was more than curious about Rose's story, but he was able to recognize the fact that he was curious about every part of Rose, that he didn't want to single out her disability in any way. But James also knew from growing up alongside Charlie that curiosity could only be satisfied when the other person wished for it to be. James wanted to put this into words for Rose, but he couldn't seem to find it in himself, so he simply waited for her response, wholly loathing his inability to comfort her. In the end, all Rose seemed able to say was, "That would be amazing, James/: And James knew that should have made him relax, that should have made him smile, but it only seemed to make him that much more anxious at the thought of the date itself.

.

.

.

In the end, James simply explained the plan to Rose, telling her to meet him at the Institute entrance at seven, explaining that the restaurant he had thought of going to was somewhere between fancy and casual. As soon as he was out of the library, James felt his heart rate increase, knowing that the two hours he had left would be full of anxiety. Instead of heading toward his own room, James turned in the opposite direction and headed toward George's. "I need your help," he said as he walked in without knocking. He didn't wait for George to respond, he simply kept going, knowing he was quickly running out of the courage he'd had just moments ago. "I have a date with Rose and I have no idea what to wear. You and I both know I've got the same fashion sense Uncle Alec has."

George's short laugh did nothing to hide the expression on his face that was so full of surprise it made James want to look away from him. "Rose? Are you serious?" George asked, his voice dripping with excitement that contradicted his surprise. James had known that George would get excited, and he'd actually be counting on it in a way. It wasn't every day that James had a date of any kind, but it especially wasn't every day that James asked for wardrobe help. "Come on, young one," George continued, taking hold of James's wrist and leading him down the hall toward his own room. "Tell me your plan for the evening; we've got a lot of work to do."

In the end, James walked out of his room wearing a button-up shirt that he rarely ever wore with the only pair of "dressy" khaki pants he owned. George swore the dark blue of the shirt made his green eyes pop. After a lot of thought on the matter, James had tried arguing that it didn't really matter what he wore, that Rose would have no idea that his eyes stood out because of the blue shirt he was wearing, but George point out that everyone around them would see it. James wasn't sure why this made any difference at all; he didn't care what those around them thought of him, but he listened to George anyway.

Listening to George as he tried to prepare James for the date only served to make James even more anxious, afraid that he was going to mess something up. He knew George meant well; he knew George was trying to help, but the more he had to hear about the date, the worse his imagination became. He wasn't exactly the most coordinated of people, and he knew the most likely scenario was that he would knock something over, most likely spilling it on Rose. As he stood waiting for Rose, James knew his mind was going to run through almost every terrible scenario it could come up with, but he seemed almost powerless to keep it from happening.

Yet somehow, James's mind cleared of every horrible thought as soon as Rose appeared at the end of the hallway and began walking toward him. She was wearing a dress that was the softest shade of pink James had ever seen, and the dress so perfectly captured every part of Rose's personality that James was unsure he'd ever seen someone wear something so perfect for them. Her hair was up in an elaborate braid that James would have never dreamed of being able to create. It was evident that Rose had asked the girls to help her get ready, but James knew he wouldn't have thought anything of it if he hadn't seen the twins and Serena running back to their rooms from Rose's as though they were trying to be invisible.

When Rose stopped in front of him, James realized that he'd been smiling the entire time she walked toward him, his reaction completely out of his own control. "You are exquisite," James finally said, his voice betraying his breathlessness. James found himself wishing, not for the first time, for his father's eloquence. But James knew there was no point in hoping for something that he knew he couldn't obtain, so he simply did the only thing he knew to do and offered Rose his arm. Then he promptly stumbled through an apology and an explanation as to how he wasn't offering to lead her around but rather he was trying to be a gentleman.

Rose had blushed and accepted his arm, two things that had made James that much more nervous and unable to control his thoughts and feelings. They both remained silent for the majority of the walk to the restaurant, but that didn't bother James. He was just happy to be able to spend time with her. But then she finally spoke up, and James had to swallow the lump in his throat. "James?" she asked, her voice softer than James had ever heard it. "Relax a little bit," she said, her smile evident in her voice even without looking at her. "You're doing fine," she continued, squeezing James's arm ever so slightly, clearly trying to encourage him. "And I'm sure you look just as wonderful as I imagine; I've heard that George has the best fashion sense in your family, other than your Uncle Magnus, of course."

James couldn't help but laugh, not at all surprised that the information about George's help with his wardrobe had spread to the others. In such a close family, absolutely nothing remained a secret for long, and James had quickly learned that a secret could only be kept if it was known by only one person. Somehow, despite everything that James knew about himself and his troubles with girls, Rose's words relaxed him, even if the effect was slight. And once they were seated in the Italian restaurant he'd picked out after finding out from Sophie that it was Rose's favorite cuisine, James finally began to feel as though the night might actually go well. Especially when the waiter set Rose's menu down in front of her.

It was clear to James that she was going to be polite about it, at least she was until she actually picked up the menu. James pretended to not notice Rose's shocked expression, but he didn't try to hide his smile, mostly because he knew she wouldn't see it. "Stop smiling like that and tell me what you did," she said, throwing James off ever so slightly as he tried to figure out how she knew he was smiling. Rose's voice was stern, but James could hear the thinly veiled joy within it, and he knew that he'd done the right thing. He'd been nervous about it, but seeing the smile that Rose was trying to hide took away all his fears.

James considered trying to tell her that he hadn't done anything, but he knew she wouldn't buy it. "I may or may not have called various restaurants in the area last night to find out if any of them offered menus in Braille," he admitted, clearing his throat when Rose asked him how long it had taken him to find one. "Not as long as you'd think," he lied, remembering the hours he'd spent on the phone. To his surprise, he'd actually found several places that did, but that was before he'd taken his list of possibilities to the girls and they'd made him begin calling places again, this time specifically looking for an Italian restaurant. But Rose didn't need to know about all of that, and mostly because James didn't want her to think that he expected too much from her. He had simply wanted her to understand that he didn't think any differently of her because of her disability.

After they'd ordered, James couldn't help but ask Rose how she was feeling with the training program, and he smiled once more at her wholly exasperated sigh. "Don't get me wrong, the training is amazing, but I knew it would be before coming here. That's why I fought so hard to get in. Who wouldn't want to be trained by arguably some of the best Shadowhunters the world has ever seen?" James had to admit that she was right, it was just that he sometimes forgot that his family was seen this way by everyone in the world. To him, they were just his family. "I just wish I could get the others to take me seriously," Rose continued, her voice heavier than it had been before. "You and your uncles seem to be the only ones who understand that I don't need to be coddled," she finished.

At that, James reached across the table to take hold of her hand. He couldn't say why he did so, he just felt as though it was something that he needed to do. So he was terribly relieved when Rose simply smiled and didn't pull her hand away from his. "I could name at least five people at the Institute who might actually need to be coddled," James replied, and he knew without a doubt that she could hear both the smile and the mischief in his voice. "And not a single one of them is you. I actually think one of them might be me," he finished, delighting in Rose's laughter. She seemed so much more relaxed and so much more herself than she even had when they'd spent time together in the Institute, and the thought of that made James much happier than he would have thought possible.

After that, James couldn't contain his curiosity any longer and he stooped to asking Rose about the twins helping her get ready. Thankfully, she didn't think anything bad of his question, and she began talking fondly of the twins with a smile on her face. James simply sat and watched her as she talked of their kindness and of several funny moments they'd had over the past few weeks. He was much happier to listen to Rose talk than to talk for himself, as James knew without a doubt that Rose was far more interesting than he could ever hope to be. But James's breath caught in his throat as he noticed something that he hadn't noticed before. Covering Rose's eyelids as well as the skin directly under her eyes were what looked to be a thousand of the smallest scars James had ever seen.

The effect was subtle, and James would have bet that no one else had yet noticed. He knew he was only noticing because this was the longest he'd actually looked at her in one sitting. The scars reminded him of the time George had burned himself on the stove when Aunt Isabelle had been cooking. Uncle Magnus had healed the wound, but the scarring on George's skin remained. And the way Rose's skin was scarred was eerily similar to the way that George's was. James began to wonder if Rose had been born with her sight and had had it taken away from her in some way, if the scars were evidence of something that had forever changed her life. But he didn't dare ask, knowing that she would share that information with him whenever she felt comfortable enough to do so.

Shortly after James noticed this, their food arrived, and Rose forced him to begin answering questions of her own. Naturally, she wanted to hear about what it had been like growing up in an Institute full of so many world renowned heroes, but more than that, she seemed to simply want to know about James himself. And James had to admit that this surprised him ever so slightly. In all the time they'd spent together over the past month or so, they'd spent a lot of it together in silence, simply enjoying one another's company. So he guessed that it made sense that she wanted to learn more about him, but he still had to admit that he hadn't expected that.

Yet despite the surprises that the night was throwing him, James couldn't contain his happiness at the way the night was going. They talked long after they'd finished their food, and James finally suggested that they take a walk around the city which was mostly his way of asking to spend more time with her. Despite himself, James found himself heading toward Central Park, thinking of how beautiful it looked regardless of the fact that Rose wouldn't know one way or another. So in the end, they ended up lying down together in the middle of Central Park, James alternating between gazing at the stars and risking glances at Rose's smile."You're honestly the first person I have ever met who hasn't asked me about my blindness," Rose suddenly said, her voice soft and contemplative. "You can't tell me you're not the least bit curious," she continued, and James could recognize the challenge in her tone.

But he couldn't help but smile at the thought. It might have been a challenge, but James could also tell that it was an innocent one at that, one that was filled with a curiosity of its own. "Of course I'm curious," James admitted, trying to hide his smile from the sound of his voice. "I'm curious about everything about you, Rose. But if I've learned one thing from living with my family, it's that people should be allowed to reveal their stories as they see fit. I may not be the best when it comes to interacting with girls, but I would never want to pry into a past or a story that you're not yet comfortable sharing." When Rose remained silent at first, James almost wished that he hadn't said what he had.

"I was actually born with my vision," Rose said after several agonizing seconds of silence. James stayed quiet, not wanting to push Rose into anything that she didn't want to tell him. "I lost it when I was three," she said, sitting up as she did so, turning toward James and revealing that she actually seemed much more relaxed than her voice sounded. "My parents never wanted to live in an Institute because they apparently felt it was too strict and stuffy, so they'd always carefully placed wards and protection around our house. But one night, those wards failed and a greater demon organized an attack with several other demons."

James realized then that Rose's tone was so distant and detached, that she was so relaxed because she seemed to understand that her past was simply a part of her that she couldn't change. He was almost jealous of the peace that she seemed to feel. "My parents weren't ready, so they stood no chance against the demon. He wanted something from them, though to this day I still have no idea which greater demon it was or what he wanted. He tortured them for several days, but when they wouldn't give him any information, he resorted to torturing me instead." Rose paused then, and James reached to place his hand on top of hers, trying to show her his support without saying a word.

"His last attempt to get my parents to talk was to pour demon's acid over my eyes." It was then that Rose's voice wavered ever so slightly, and James knew the memories of it were beginning to bother her. "I'm not sure that I'll ever understand what was important enough to my parents to keep it a secret even through all of our torture. The demon killed them and left me for dead, but I was found by a Clave member who'd been dispatched after my parents hadn't shown up for their meeting." Rose smiled softly, and James gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I was actually healed by your Uncle Ragnor," she continued, and James now understood her smile. "But he couldn't restore my sight as my eyes were far too damaged. The scars that are left still hurt every now and then, but I'm just happy that he was able to help me as much as he did."

At first, James began racking his brain for absolutely anything he could say in response. But then James realized that anything he said would be inadequate. That he couldn't change Rose's past any more than anyone else could, and she already knew how sorry he was, how much it hurt him to hear of her pain. So instead, he asked her the one thing he'd been wanting to ask her for weeks. "Rose? May I kiss you?" he finally asked, and he smiled as he watched the change in her expression. As she'd told him of her past, her face had been blank, but at his question, her expression shifted to one of both surprise and bliss.

The only thing she could seem to do at first was nod, her surprise rendering her speechless for several long moments. But then, before James could react, she finally asked her own question. Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper, but her tone was genuine, just as her expression was. "Why are you asking my permission?" she said, but James wasn't entirely sure that he really knew the answer to that himself. So instead of trying to form his answer right away, James simply moved to close the distance between them. He didn't want to catch her off guard, so he reached up to gently brush his thumb across her cheek, eventually moving to place his hand under her chin and to ever so softly tilt her face up toward his.

Before James could do anything else, Rose had reached to place both of her hands on the back of his neck, pulling him toward her as she closed the distance between them for herself. At first, James was too surprised to respond in any way as her lips met his, but then he found himself smiling against her lips as he realized that she was ever so slightly too far to the left. The entire gesture was so endearing that James couldn't help but smile as he moved to correct her, not at all upset that she was a bit off, understanding the courage it had took for Rose to even try to kiss him without being able to see him. Yet when James finally responded to her kiss, he forgot about all of that, about everything that was around them, about everything that had been happening at the Institute, about everything that wasn't Rose.

Before James really knew what was happening, he'd completely lost himself in Rose, his entire body sighing in satisfaction. If he had thought before that he couldn't find Rose any more beautiful than he already did, then James knew now that he was dead wrong. There was no hesitation in Rose's kiss, nothing other than the affection that they seemed to share for one another. From the moments they had spent together, James had always thought that they had some sort of connection, but the moment that James kissed her back, he realized that they shared much more of a connection than he'd first cared to admit. And when he finally pulled away from her ever so reluctantly, James could feel the weight of what he was already missing. "I'm sorry," Rose said, her smile contradicting her words.

James couldn't help but chuckle as he moved to stand, reaching down to help Rose up as well. "Rose, I asked your permission because I would never do anything that you didn't want me to. And I do not accept your apology because I do not regret what you did," he said, moving to quickly place a kiss on her cheek before taking hold of her hand and moving to lead the way out of Central Park. "Thank you for sharing your past with me, Rose," he eventually said after they'd walked in peaceful silence for several blocks. "It means a lot more to me than you probably think." Rose simply smiled at that, and James had to admit to himself that her smile was becoming increasingly dear to him.

As they made their way back to their rooms, Rose stopped walking and tugged on James's hand, beckoning him to stop and turn toward her. "I truly hope you enjoyed tonight as much as I did," she said, keeping her voice soft likely because she realized that all of James's cousins would be listening for their arrival. "I can't thank you enough for making me feel as though you see me for me and not for my disability," Rose finished, and James only responded by moving in for another kiss, pulling away only when he grew suspicious of how quiet the hallway was, knowing that falling asleep that night would be terribly hard to do with the feeling of Rose's lips lingering on his. As he fell into bed, James felt guilty for wondering what was going to go wrong next, knowing that there was rarely a peaceful and happy moment in the Institute that wasn't ruined by drama and war. But James pushed that thought aside and let his mind drift into the happiness he was feeling rather than focusing on the impending doom that was hiding in the back of his mind.


	6. Author's Note

Hi all!

So I have been thinking about this for a very long time, and I have decided that I will be going on hiatus indefinitely. This is not an easy decision for me, and at this point, I am unsure that I will ever come back to writing fanfiction. This decision is one I have been thinking about and struggling with for months, and I've decided to simply rip off the bandage and do it.

At this point, I think a lot of you know how busy my schedule is. This decision is one that I do not take lightly, but I feel is the best for me and my life. I've got two majors, I will be applying to medical school in the summer, and I must begin writing my thesis soon, not to mention my job and volunteer work and a million and two other things.

I wanted to post on the 4 stories that I never finished as a courtesy to you all so that you aren't waiting for me to finish them. If I do come back to these stories at some point, I would like for it to be a pleasant surprise, instead of this becoming a horrible waiting game. I would like to come back to these stories eventually, but I am unsure that this is going to be possible. I have begun working on some original works as well, and I have even had to give those things up in favor of school work.

I am sorry to have to post this, but I am very thankful for all the support I've gotten over the past few years! You have all helped me grow more as a writer than I could have ever imagined, and I am so thankful for that! You've been amazing readers, and I am sorry that I have to end off like this.

Thanks so much for everything!

xoxo Haley


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